A tale of two stories: COVID-19 and disability. A critical scoping review of the literature on the effects of the pandemic among athletes with disabilities and para-athletes

Abstract

The still ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted athletes, and, in particular, para-athletes and athletes with disabilities. However, there is no scholarly appraisal on this topic. Therefore, a critical scoping review of the literature was conducted. We were able to retrieve sixteen relevant studies. The sample size ranged from 4 to 183. Most studies were observational, cross-sectional, and questionnaire-based surveys, two studies were interventional, and two were longitudinal. One study was a technical feasibility study. Almost all studies were conducted as single-country studies, with the exception of one multi-country investigation. Five major topics/themes could be identified: namely, 1) impact of COVID-19-induced confinement on training and lifestyles in athletes with disabilities/para-athletes; 2) impact of COVID-19-induced confinement on mental health in athletes with disabilities/para-athletes; 3) impact of COVID-19-induced confinement on performance outcomes in athletes with disabilities/para-athletes; 4) risk of contracting COVID-19 among athletes with disabilities/para-athletes; and, finally, 5) impact of COVID-19 infection on athletes with disabilities/para-athletes. The scholarly literature assessed was highly heterogeneous, with contrasting findings, and various methodological limitations. Based on our considerations, we recommend that standardized, reliable tools should be utilized and new, specific questionnaires should be created, tested for reliability, and validated. High-quality, multi-center, cross-countries, longitudinal surveys should be conducted to overcome current shortcomings. Involving all relevant actors and stakeholders, including various national and international Paralympic Committees, as a few studies have done, is fundamental: community-led, participatory research can help identify gaps in the current knowledge about sports-related practices among the population of athletes with disabilities during an unprecedented period of measures undertaken that have significantly affected everyday life. Moreover, this could advance the field, by capturing the needs of para-athletes and athletes with disabilities and enabling the design of a truly “disability-inclusive response” to COVID-19 and similar future conditions/situations. Furthermore, follow-up studies on COVID-19-infected para-athletes and athletes with disabilities should be conducted. Evidence of long-term effects of COVID-19 is available only for able-bodied athletes, for whom cardiorespiratory residual alterations and mental health issues a long time after COVID-19 have been described.

A Scoping Review with Bibliometric Analysis of Para-Rowing: State of the Art and Future Directions

“…Therefore, in para-rowing, further studies are warranted involving a broad range of impairments and disabilities, with particular attention paid to spinal cord injury. Finally, although in recent years COVID-19 has dramatically impacted the Paralympic sport arena [ 53 ], there are no published studies investigating this topic, which deserves to be explored.…”

“The show must go on”: How Paralympic athletes safeguarded their mental well-being and motivation to train for the postponed Tokyo 2020 games

“…Both recreational and elite athletes had to cope with uncertainty, regularly changing measures that impacted their training routines, and the cancelation of competitive events. Several studies indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted athletes’ well-being and performance (e.g., Puce et al, 2022 ), but why some athletes suffered more than others remained unknown. Only one previous study looked at whether athletes’ ability to cope with the pandemic depended on their motivation ( Morbée et al, 2022 ).…”

“…Likewise, athletes’ need for relatedness was under threat, as isolation and keeping distance (e.g., from friends, family members, and teammates) were core aspects of the measures imposed to prevent the COVID-19 virus to spread. Finally, especially for Paralympic athletes, the disruption of the preparation for one of the most important competitive events of their career potentially hampered or undermined their competence satisfaction ( Puce et al, 2022 ). Moreover, given the postponement or cancelation of competitions, it was difficult for athletes to judge properly where they stood in terms of adjusting their intermediate goals compared to opponents.…”

“…We know from studies on non-athletes with disabilities that the COVID-19 situation has had an even more negative impact on their mental health compared to the global population ( Theis et al, 2021 ). Moreover, a critical scoping review of the literature on the impact of the pandemic on athletes with disabilities by Puce et al (2022) identified 16 studies, 8 of which examined their mental health and/or well-being. A higher burden in para-athletes compared to athletes without disabilities was demonstrated, with more positive screenings for anxiety, depression, poor sleep quality ( Nabhan et al, 2021 ), and a higher perceived negative impact on their training and performance of loneliness, psychological inflexibility, anxiety ( Clemente-Suárez et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Previous research on the impact of the pandemic on athletic performance at the Games is scarce. The review by Puce et al (2022) retrieved only one study that investigated the impact of COVID-19 confinement on performance outcomes in para-athletes ( Schipman et al, 2022 ). Specifically, the authors recorded the results of the 10 best world performers in Olympic and Paralympic events since 2010, and noticed that the performance decrements were dramatical, as previously only observed during the two World Wars.…”